Secrets of Families
by Believe27
Summary: She's back. Raven Howe is back and using her smarts to get ahead in life. Now working at the Archives with Abigail, finishing off college and visiting her felon father in prison. A diary page turns up and turns the tables in her life. COMPLETE
1. Pages

Chapter One: Pages

**Look, the second one, already! I know. I know. I'm going to start it any maybe to a chapter a day except for tomorrow because I'm not going to be home. Oh, and I don't own anything in this story. Only the character of Raven Howe and her dialogue.**

When I was 10, my parents were fighting over and over and over again. About the littlest things that made my angry. One night they were fighting over my history grade. Yeah, history, I knew what was coming. I hated history when I was little until met Ben Gates. I turned up my CD player to the loudest it could go without hearing my parents scream at each other. "Turn the music down!" My Mum screamed over the music. I jumped, kicking my foot into the machine. I screamed in pain. "Dammit!" At age 10 I heard it a lot from my Dad, I didn't mean to say it. I knew what was coming next after everything went quiet out in the living room. I sat on my bed and sighed. My Mum stormed into my room with her purse.

"Come on, we're going to your nan's house!" She grabbed onto my arm and started to pull me out of my room. I protected by screaming for my Dad. Dad came running. "What are you doing, Ella?" Dad asked.

"Taking her to my mum's place for the night." My Mum said. I tried to wiggle out of her grasp but she had a strong grip on my wrist. "Mum, please! It hurts." I cried. She let go and I ran to my Dad. He picked me up and hugged me. I started crying. I didn't cry often but that was one of those times.

* * *

><p>"Riley, stop. Its never going to work with us. I've told you over and over and over again." I said. We were fighting again, like my parents did before they divorced. "Come on, Ray! We can work this one out." Riley pleaded. I turned to my boy…my ex-boyfriend.<p>

"Riley, you don't get it! We're threw! I can't handle a relationship that makes me seem like the bad guy. This is exactly what happened to my Mum and Dad's marriage! If we plan to get married I don't want to get divorced! So leave!" I screamed. Riley stared at me. "Did I stutter? Leave!" Riley left, slamming the door behind him. I looked at the door and the tears began. Not again. I sat on the ground and cried.

* * *

><p>I sat in the prison's viewing section. A prison guard brought in my father in cuffs. I crossed my arms and stared at my Dad. "Huh, wasn't expecting you, Ray." Dad said as he sat down. The guard handcuffed him to the table. "I wanted to talk to you about your relationship with Mum." I said. Dad rolled his eyes.<p>

"Trouble in paradise?" He smirked. I wanted to go over the table to grab him by the collar of his shirt. I decided against it since there is a guard in the room. "No problem. I just wanted to know how you and Mum started out." I said. I kept a straight face so my Dad didn't realize I was lying.

"Nice try, Raven. I know you and Riley had another fight. I can see it in your eyes. Still red." I looked away from my father and sighed.

"Fine but I do want to know how you and Mum made it work before I was born." I looked at my father with pleading eyes. "I looked past the flaws." He said. The guard said it was time for his lunch. I wanted to protest but I knew I wouldn't win. I watched my father leave the room. I slammed my fists on the table and cover my face as the tears stained my face again.

* * *

><p>Present Day, December 21, 2007<p>

I sit down with Ben and Patrick in the seminar about his ancestors. I'm there for support but I'm supposed to be with Riley at his book signing. Riley and I tried to make it but nope, nothing. I'm thinking about the story Ben told me over and over again. "So recapping: The Knights of the Golden Circle was a Southern extremist group, operating in the North to subvert Union forces. Had Thomas not burned the legendary missing pages from the Booth diary, the killers may have found a vast treasure of gold, and the Union may well have lost the Civil War. Thank you." Ben says. Everyone claps for Ben, the information is very interesting and true. "I would like to thank Ben and Patrick Gates and along with Raven Howe. And say what a wonderful addition Thomas Gates to our civilian heroes exhibit. Thank you." Dr. Nichols says.

"Thank you, Dr. Nichols. I only wish my grandfather had been here to see this wonderful day." Patrick says with a smile. I've heard the story time and time again about Ben's great-grandfather.

"Excuse me?" A man from the top says. The attention goes towards him. "I have a question I'd like to ask. What do you think happened to that Booth diary page that was pulled out of the fire?"

"We may never know." Ben says. I stand up and go to Ben.

"Perhaps. Perhaps not." The crowd start to talk to each other. "You see, I have one of those great-great-granddaddies like you, way up in my family tree, name of Silas Wilkinson. He used to tell us story about the night Lincoln was shot. As Silas tells it, Booth didn't seek out Thomas Gates regarding the treasure map that night. It was Thomas who called the meeting. A meeting to plan the assassination of Lincoln." The crowd whispers to each other. I cover my mouth, I can't believe this right now.

"How absurd." Ben says. "That's a lie!" Patrick snaps. The crowd murmurs around us again. The man stands up facing the audience. "Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you…one of the missing pages from the infamous diary of John Wilkes Booth with the name Thomas Gates written on a list along with all the other killers."

Everyone leaves after that whole thing, all that is left is Ben, Patrick, myself, Dr. Nichols and the guy with the page. Why so it off now? I feel there's something more to this than we even know. "And Latin?" Nichols asks.

"Booth was a student in Latin. He shouted, _"Sic simper tyrannies" _after he shot Lincoln. 'Thus always to…'" The guy starts. "'Thus always to tyrants.' We know." I mumble.

"'Surratt, _copiae_'?" Nichols asks. "Military supplies. Mary Surratt was convicted and hanged for supplying Booth with a rifle and field glasses." Ben steps closer to look at the page that's up on the screen.

"'Thomas Gates, _artifex._'"Ben says. "'Designer'- or 'mastermind.'" The new guys says.

"I know what it means." Ben says.

"He must have, uh, planned the assassination."

"I see." Ben says. "Could mean mastermind of anything! Look right there, its burned out, right there." I snap as I move my finger across the burnt area of the paper.

"I can only imagine how difficult this must be for you." He ignores my comment, speaking towards Patrick. "May I, Mr…" Dr. Nichols asks.

"Wilkinson." Why do I know that last name? Did he try to get my Dad involved in something? "I'll see if this new page matches the Booth diary." Nichols takes the diary out of its case.

"This is an outrage. You're calling my grandfather a liar." Patrick snaps. "With all do respect, sir, now you're calling my great-great-granddaddy a liar." Wilkinson says.

"Yes, sir, I am. This isn't some garbage from a history book. My grandfather told me this story himself. I saw the truth of it in his eyes." Patrick protests. Ben and I take him over to the side to calm him down. "I'm sorry, sir. I truly am." Wilkinson says. I don't trust him too much. I need to see my Dad again. We watch as Dr. Nichols place the page next to the ripped edge. It a perfect fit. Oh, no.

"We'll test this thoroughly, Patrick, to authenticate it." Nichols says. I close my eyes and sigh. "It can't be." Patrick mumbles.

* * *

><p>I sit in the prisoner's visitor area, waiting for my father to get in. I see him and smile. I'm actually happy to see him this time. "No." I gasp. "What? I didn't ask anything." I snap.<p>

"Your going to ask about something to do with Ben." I laugh. "Actually, do you know a Mitch Wilkinson?" My Dad goes stiff and shakes his head.

"You know more than you think Ray." Whenever my Dad calls me Ray, its something in my mind that will be unlocked later. "Dad, this is very important. He has a Booth diary page with Ben's ancestor on it." I say.

"See its about Ben. After I said, no." Dad says. I sigh. I stand up from the chair and stare into his eyes. "I can't believe I'm bloody related to you." I leave the room and off to Patrick's place near the college I go to.


	2. Working with the Enemy

Chapter Two: Working with the Enemy

**About time I post this. I wasn't sure how to start this chapter and end so that's why it took so long, sorry. But, I read that everyone from the first two movies are coming back to do the third which is supposed to come out in 2014 so cross your fingers! Only Sedusky is the only one who hasn't signed on yet! I kinda hope Ian breaks out somehow instead of a different villain like Wilkinson! **

**So, enjoy!**

I drive to Patrick's place and grab my purse. "What are you going? Riley should be here any minute." Ben says. "I have to go to the Archives. Abigail said something about a double date with her and someone from the White House." I say. I go to leave when I see Riley carrying a cutout of himself in an Indiana Jone sort of costume and a cart full of books. I raise an eyebrow.

"I think I'm going to stay a bit longer to find out what happened." I laugh. Ben looks up from his book and sighs. "Where's the Ferrari?" He asks.

"The IRS impounded it." Riley says. "The IRS?" I chuckle. Riley gives me a death glare. I flip him off.

"Funny story. My accountant set up a corporation on an island that didn't exist and assured me that that's how rich people do it. Then I got audited and slapped with a huge fine plus interest. Wanna know what taxes are on five million dollars?" Riley asks. "That's six million dollars, Riley. Well, I'm off." I say.

"Off? Where?" Riley asks. I turn to my ex. "Do you care?" I ask. Riley opens his mouth to respond, but I get into the car and drive off.

* * *

><p>Instead of the double date, Abigail's nephew decided to go bar hopping. i didn't care. Riley was on my mind every minute when she said the word date. It would have been awkward anyway Abigail and Connor from the White House. God, he annoys the hell out of me and Abigail knows that. I think its a way to get back at me when I was trying to get a job at the Archives. I hear a noise downstairs coming from the entrance way. Abigail had me "watch" the house since it is an older house with very…valuable items, her words, not mine. I walk out of her office room with the book I was reading. It was my only weapon since Abigail doesn't allow a gun in her house. I walk down the stairs, seeing Riley and Ben there. "Well, well, well. Breaking and entering isn't good on your record." I smirk. Riley jumps after his disarmed the alarm. Ben turns with eyes widened. "What are you doing here?" He asks.<p>

I walk down the stairs with the book waving in my hand. "Abigail has me babysit the house while she's gone, she doesn't trust her alarm system since more than once it has been disabled." I look at Riley, referring to him. He uses his hacking systems more than once to get into Abigail's place to help Ben. If I was keeping track, it would be about the fifteen time. "I thought you had a date." Ben says.

"Her nephew decided to do some bar hopping instead. I don't mind, I get a chance to catch up on my reading." I hold you the book but it falls out of my hand landing on Riley's foot. Riley jumps again from impacted. "Sorry."

"So what are you looking for, Ben? I'm guessing her security card to get a look at the page." Ben rolls his eyes. "Maybe but does it even matter now? You just going to tell Abigail I was here." Ben says.

"Ben, just because I work with Abigail doesn't mean I can't keep secrets. I know where the card is but I can't help." I say.

"That's a lame excuse." Riley mumbles. "Yeah, trust me. Abigail warned me 'If you help Ben, your out of the job'." Riley gulped. "That's the correct answer."

"Where is it?" Ben asks.

* * *

><p>Ben opens the desk draw and grabs the keycard when headlights shine through the curtains from the upstairs. Damn, she home early. I close my eyes. "Stay here." I say. I walk out of the room and down the stairs. I hear footsteps coming from inside and out. Ben and Riley followed, I push my ex into a room and push Ben towards a different room. I pick up the book I left on the ground, smiling at Abigail as she walks in with Connor. "Hey Abigail." I say.<p>

"Hi. Uh, why is the alarm disabled?" She asks. I never thought of that plan when I was rushing around to hide my friends. "I thought I heard something coming from outside so I disarmed the alarm and must have forgotten to turn it back on. My bad." I say with a convincing smile.

"Really?" She raises an eye brow. I glance over my shoulder, seeing Ben there. "Really, Ben? I was coving for you." I hiss. Ben ignores me when he sees Abigail's date. Connor Bering, the idiot of the White House. That's what I like to call him since I have no idea how he got a job at the White House. Connor doesn't like me and who can blame him, he's "dating" Abigail as he puts it. He's like Dr. Herbert, God, so glad he found a different job away from the Archives, I don't think he even enjoyed his job. I think he just wanted to flirt with Abigail when she was with Ben and dreaming about Ben.

"Gates." Connor finally speaks, glancing at me then Ben then back to me. "Who let you in, Ben?" Abigail asks. Ben looks down at the floor.

"Of course." Abigail mumbles. "Riley, get out here. Now." Riley emerges from the room I pushed him into. Riley seems a little afraid of Abigail, afraid of me, and ready to ask if she has read his book. Which I have read, I just won't admit it, not yet anyway. I liked the dedication but after reading it over and over and over again…I felt a little bad. Our fight was over nothing but I couldn't tell him that. I was still mad at him for ditching me at the Archives to do another…failed book signing.

"Hey! What are you doing here? I mean, it's your house, but…I sent you a copy of my book. Did you get a chance…?" Riley stammers through that whole statement to Abigail. "No, I haven't gotten a chance to read it yet." Abigail says.

"Hey, I know you. You're the White House curator. I'm Riley. We met, uh, back in…" Riley says. "Right. You're, uh, Ben's assistant." Connor says. I try to contain my laughter but it slips. Riley gives me a death glare again. I stick my tongue out at him. "Ha. Ha."

"What?"

"Um, maybe I should go." Connor whispers. "Yeah, I'm really…" Abigail starts. "Dinner tomorrow night?"

"I-I actually already have plans for tomorrow." Abigail says. I close my eyes, of course she did. Probably with Mitch Wilkinson too. Damn, that guy.

"You do?" Ben asks. Abigail gives him a 'not now' look. "Of course you do."

"But I'm free on Friday." Abigail smiles. I turn to my friends and mouth, "Awkward."

"Oh, great." Connor laughs. He's such a five-year-old. I roll my eyes when he attempts to kiss Abigail's cheek. They bid 'good night' to each other. Abigail waited for Connor to leave before yelling at the three of us. "I cannot believe you broke in." Abigail storms down the steps. "What did you take?"

"It's just my things." Abigail grabs the box from Ben. "Hand it over, Ben." She says. Ben sighs and gives in. He hands her over the card.

"I need to see the Booth diary page." Ben says. "You saw the page yourself. There is no treasure map on it." Abigail's voice echoes in the house.

"No, it's a cipher leading to a map. Anyone spectral-image the page?" He asks, motioning towards me. "Sorry, Ben. I wasn't able to look at the paper." I say.

"No need to have it spectral-image the page. The ink writing on the page is clearly visible." Abigail heads down the hall. "It could have been erased or faded. You're the director of document conservation. You know this." Ben says.

"Its not up to me. It's not my department." Abigail says. "That department reports to your department. Come on, Abigail. One look under infrared." Ben says. Abigail continues to walk away. "I'll give you the Boston Tea Tables." Abigail stops and turns.

"Both of them?"

* * *

><p>That night at the Archives around 3AM:<p>

Beeping is coming from each and every computer that is in the room. "We've been looking at this page for hours." Riley mumbles. This is true, we've been here for exact three hours, Abigail was still in her dress from this evening. "There's nothing there." I nodded, I was so tired staring at this screen. Ben was staring into nothing on the screen. It is a tad creepy. Ben takes off his glasses to rub his nose. "Ben, I really don't think we're going to find anything on this page." Abigail says.

"Look at it this way, in a hundred years, no one's going to remember anyone involved in the Lincoln assassination besides Booth." Riley says. "That's not true. Do you know the expression, "His name is mud"?" Ben asks. I nod. "Yes, of course."

"You do?" Ben seems kinda surprised at that. I was surprised a bit too but this is Riley we're talking about. "Do you know the origin of the expression?"

"Does anyone but you?" Riley asks. I go to raise my hand but Riley shoots me a glare. I step back from my ex, back to staring at the screen. "Dr. Samuel Mudd was convicted of being a co-conspirator in the Lincoln assassination. The evidence was circumstantial. He was later pardoned, but it didn't matter. Mudd's name still lives in infamy. And I will not let Thomas Gates' name be mud." I point to the screen to have Abigail look.

"Ben." I whisper. "What?" He snaps.

"Look at this." I point to the screen with a big smile on my face. Ben puts his glasses back on. "See that?"

"Oh. That's quite something, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it says "smudge"." Riley says. I slap Riley across the face. "That was not necessary." I point to the screen when the UV scans the page better. Riley tilts his head to look at the 'smudge' as he calls it.

"Residual ink from the facing page. Flip it." Abigail does what Ben asks. "The letters are backwards." Ben says.

"It's a cipher." I smile. "Yes. It is." Abigail says.

"A cipher. See how the letters are coupled? Playfair cipher encode letters in pairs. This could prove his story." Ben says. "Unless you decode the cipher, this does not prove your theory." Abigail says.

"That's OK. We need a five-letter keyword." Ben says. "What's the keyword?" Riley asks.

"I don't know yet." Ben sighs.

"All right." Riley says. "Uh, can I get a printout of this?" Ben asks.

"There's a billion words in the English language. There's gotta be a logical…Let's start from the beginning. A. Aardvark." Riley mumbles on about the keyword. "Not to rain on your parade here, Ben, but this isn't going to stop Dr. Nichols from announcing the discovery of the page, tomorrow morning." I say. Ben's eyes widen.

"What? Can't you ask him to wait until I prove Thomas is innocent?" Abigail grabs the paper from the printer. "What if he isn't?" Abigail asks. Abigail walks back over to the computers. I feel sorry for Ben but its the truth. What if Thomas isn't innocent? God, why am I acting like Abigail?


	3. Death?

Chapter Three: Death?

**I'm not sure what to say besides enjoy. Oh, is anyone else not getting emails from FanFiction because I never got emails about reviews or stories or anything...**

Before the announcement of the page, I talk to some of my new friends that work at the Archives. Abigail walks into the room with a smile on her face. I excuse my myself, walking over to Abigail. "Who's your date for this evening and am I going to have watch the house again?" I smirk. "His name is Mitch Wilkinson, the one who came forward with the page." I nod. I was trying to contain every ounce of my previous life inside because I have thought of every curse word to describe Wilkinson. He knows more than everything thinks but I doubt he's as smart as my Dad was.

"And, no I don't need you to watch the house. Ben got what he wanted, I doubt he'll try to break in…again." Abigail says. I nod with a smile. "Have you read Riley's book?"

"Yeah, I have but I'm not sure how much he actually researched on his own, or just read my notes from class." I say. Abigail laughs. "Did he send you the copy?" I shake my head.

"No, after the break up I had to buy to book, even though it was hardcover he making a fool of himself. $25 of a book like that." Abigail shrugged. "Maybe he needs money."

"He still has his half of one percent stored in five different banks but he does have to pay for his IRS debt on the car. Its a funny story actually. You should ask him about it, he almost cried the first time he told Ben and I." I roll my eyes. I see Wilkinson out of the corner of my eye, he seems to have a hidden agenda.

* * *

><p>I stand Dr. Nichols outside the Archives with the page. Abigail was there too but in the crowd. I had to be up there because I was one of the people who saw the page before anyone else. After the announcement, I walk to a local coffee shop to get myself a coffee and one for Abigail. Wilkinson comes up to me and smiles. "Raven Howe, good to see you again." He says. "We saw each other at the announcement." I say grabbing the coffees. I go over to the coffee station to put creamer and sugar into them.<p>

"Yes but I wanted to know how your father was?" He asks. I look at him. "In federal prison for breaking and entering, theft, attempt at murder, and trespassing on government property." I smirk. Wilkinson plays with something in his pocket.

"I knew your father, never thought he would end up in prison." He says. I know where he was going with this. If he knew my father then he knows about my juvy record that became clean two years ago. "Did you now? So how do you know my father? I mean, I've never seen you before and I moved here when I was fifteen." I say. Wilkinson pulls out a locket that looked like something of my mother's. It was my mother's.

"Where you get this?" I ask. I go to grab the locket but Wilkinson pulls it back. I clench my fist. "You'll get this when you tell me about Ben Gates and his family history." I look down at the coffees, I was going home early anyway but Abigail is waiting for her coffee.

"I wish I could but…" I start for the door when Wilkinson's men enter the cafe. "Abigail can wait." Wilkinson smiles. I sit down with my coffee, telling Wilkinson the story about Ben's family. I knew what I was getting myself into but something clicked in my mind. "Death." I mumble.

"Excuse me?" Wilkinson says. "I'm sorry. I have to go!" I dash out of the coffee, leaving the coffees and headed towards Patrick's vacation place.

* * *

><p>"Death." I storm into the room. "What?" Riley asks.<p>

"Death, the keyword." I say. Riley types away when Ben and Patrick walk into the room. "Raven, hi. Uh, I thought you had to work." Ben says.

"I took the day off and I figured out the keyword." I smile. "How?" Riley asks.

"All of Patrick's stories about Ben's family. 'All the debt that all men pay' is death." I say. "Your right about that, Raven." Patrick smiles at me. I look at Riley's computer.

"L-A-B-O-U-L…It's Lab-ool…Lab-ahl….La…It's gibberish." Riley says. I look away from the group of men in front of me. I think for a moment, trying to put the letters together. It hits me like a ton of bricks. "Laboulaye!" I say. "Laboulaye!" Ben and Patrick say together.

"Laboulaye." Riley pounds his fist on the table. "What is it?" Riley asks.

"It's a who. Édouard Laboulaye. Where's the phone?" Ben asks. He goes searching for the phone. "I don't know where anything in this mess." Patrick says.

"Its temporary 'til I find a new place." Ben says, leaving the room to look for the landline. "Find the old one. I like her." Patrick smiles. Ben walks into the room with the phone to his ear.

"We cracked the cipher. It's 'Laboulaye'." I watch his every move, I motion him to put it on speaker. Ben rolls his eyes and actually does what I asked. This isn't common for him to listen to what I want. "The cipher spells 'Laboulaye'."

_"So? Laboulaye was well-known in France. It could be nothing."_

"Or maybe there was a treasure map like Thomas Gates said there was, and Laboulaye had it. We only got a partial on the next word. L-A-D, lad…ladder…"

_"L-A-D."_

"Aladdin! Aladdin?" I glare at my ex. "Seriously?" I hiss.

_"Lady!"_

"Thank you, Abigail! Laboulaye Lady. Do you know what Laboulaye was planning right around the time Lincoln was assassinated?" Ben puts the phone back to his ear. "There's a map or a clue to a map on the Statue…" Ben turns to us. "She hung up."

"She took your call. That was good." Patrick says. "Are you saying there's a treasure map in the Statue of Liberty?" Riley asks.

"Riley, you need to brush up on your history. Laboulaye was a Mason. They built clues into _everything_!" I snap. "So you did read my book." Riley smiles.

"No, how about I'm still in college learning history. We spent three months learning about the Mason, Laboulaye came up in many of our discussions." I say. "The main question is, which Statue of Liberty?" Patrick says.

"Right." I smile. "There's more than one?" Riley questions. I roll my eyes.

"Three to be exact but this summer I did see two others. One is in New York City, one in the Luxembourg Garden, and one in Paris, France." I say. "Tell me the other two you saw, Ray." Ben says.

"Vegas has one and while I was in Hudson, New York, on a back street someone had a Statue of Liberty on their lawn. It was a bit weird to see one there but I guess their proud to Americans." Ben chuckled. Everyone went their separate ways to pack for Paris.


	4. France and England

Chapter Four: France and England

**Sorry, its taking so long to get these chapters up, its mainly because I'm still trying to figure out how I'm going end and everything. I have up to chapter seven done so expect a chapter everyday or every other day! Enjoy...**

I run up to the Eiffel Tower with my Dad when I was 5. It was my first time being out of England with my Dad. My Mum decided to stay home since her work was important to her. "Look Daddy!" I squealed. I tilted my head back to see if I could see the tip of the tower. I started to fall backwards but Daddy caught me and put my on his shoulders. I smiled when we reached the top. It was so big, I never thought it would be this big. I could see everything. It was incredible.

* * *

><p>Paris, France:<p>

I watch as Riley uses his helicopter toy to find the clue. "This is like, impossible what you're doing." Ben says. He snapped me out of my thoughts, I was looking at the Eiffel Tower and thinking about my first time coming here. I've been many places but this one was my favorite. "I'm glad you're enjoying it." I turn back to my male friends.

"Laboulaye had to leave a clue somewhere on here. Move in on the torch." Ben says. "Let me get there. It's not as easy as it looks." Riley says.

"No. Believe me, I understand." I hear some speak French behind us. Ben turns and walks over to them. "Excuse me, officer. May I help you?"

"Riley, what's that?" I point to the tiny screen. "We've got it." Riley smiles. I smile back.

"We need to tell Ben." I say. Riley lands the helicopter down on the ground, I pick it up for him as he runs to Ben. I follow. "He's a cop." Riley mumbles when I come over. Ben hands over the control to the cop to read the French, sorry. I never learned French.

"Um…'Across the these twins stand determined…" The first cop asks. "Resolute." The second corrects the first cop.

"'Resolute,' yeah. '…to preserve what we are looking for. Uh…Laboulaye, 1876."

"It's a clue." Riley says. "No duh." I say. Riley glares.

"'These twins stand resolute.' Let's see. Resolute twins. Resolute." Ben starts to pace around the area with us staring at him, waiting for an answer. "Resolute. And then twins. Siamese twins? Siam? Trade routes between France and Thailand? That's ridiculous." He laughs. Riley looks at me, I shrug. I don't know this part of history which is quite odd. "_HMS Resolute_. A British ship that got lost in the Arctic in the 1800s. It was salvaged by American whalers, and then Congress sent it back to England. When the ship was finally retired, Queen Victoria had two desks made from its timbers. Voilà. Resolute twins." I nod, I can't believe I forgot my basic history I learned when I saw in grade school.

"And where are those desks now?" The cop asks. "The closest one is in London. Uh, Riley, how fast can we get to Buckingham Palace?" Ben says.

"I don't know. How about you ask your new best friend?" Riley says. I chuckle and pat Riley's shoulder. "Aw, your being replaced." I smirk.

"Nice helicopter. Is that yours?" I look down at the helicopter in my hands. "No, its his." I smile.

"Okay, so you get the ticket." I laugh out loud. Riley is getting a ticket in a foreign country, I never thought that would actually happen.

* * *

><p>London, England:<p>

Never thought I would ever coming back here. Riley, Ben and I stay at the Savoy hotel. Riley is able to get the blue prints of Buckingham Palace on his computer. "So the Queen's office is here. The elevator shaft gets you close, but the only direct access is through security." Riley says. I walk into the room. "Breaking into the Queen's office. That should be exciting." I say. Riley looks up at me.

"We've got to get Ben into that room." I nod. Ben's phone rings and leaves the room. I'm betting its Patrick. I look at Riley who is typing away on his computer.

"Can we talk?" I ask. "Why?" He snaps.

"I don't want to be the bad guy here. I want to talk like civilized people." I say. "We're coming home." I hear Ben say.

"What?" I snap. "What happened?" Riley asks.

"Okay. We're in London. We're going to Buckingham Palace. We have an appointment with the curator tomorrow afternoon."

"What's going on, Ben?" I ask. "My Dad's house was broken into last night. Someone else is after the treasure." Ben says. I sigh. Of course someone else is after the treasure.

"Of course someone else is after the treasure. It's the axiom of treasure hunting." Riley says. "We have to hurry and see that desk." I say.

"Then we don't want to miss that appointment." Riley says. I have a feeling I know who's after the treasure. "Ben." I say. Ben turns to me, waiting for me to respond. "Can I use your phone?" Ben blinks and hands me his cell phone. I know Wilkinson is listening on the other line. I tell Abigail's office.

"Hello I need to speak with Abigail Chase." I say once I'm in my room.

_"Oh, I'm sorry. You just missed her. She said something about cancel all her meetings and appointments for the next 48 hours. May I ask for your name so she can get back to you?" _

"Raven Howe. I work for her. May I ask where she was headed?"

_"She said something about going to England to help her ex."_

"Really? Uh, thanks." I hang up and give Ben back his phone. I look at my ex before headed back to my room for the night until we head to Buckingham Palace.

* * *

><p>Buckingham Palace:<p>

Riley and I head a different way than Ben. I glance inside a bathroom, the men's bathroom actually. I wait for Riley to get me a earpiece so I can go back to the main room. I wait him dismantle my iPod. "Is that my iPod?" I snap. Riley gives me a look. "I wondered where that went! When we get back to the US, your buying me a new one." I hiss. Riley shakes his head. He throws me a small case. I catch it and leave. I walk into the main floor seeing Ben and Abigail whispering to each other. I put the earpiece in. "Well then, fine! If that's what you want, let's have it out right now!" Ben shouts. I try not to bring attention to myself as I watch the scene. _"So subtle."_

"Let me guess? It's the wrong time. It's the wrong place. I'm wrong again! Wrong about us, wrong about Thomas Gates, wrong that you'd like the Queen Anne chair!" Ben yells. "Riley, this is incredible. I can't believe what I'm watching!"

_"It sounds good! How loud is Ben being?" _

"Its echoing and everyone is staring. Oh,no." I whisper.

_"What?" _

"Oh, uh…nothing. I thought I saw someone I recognized. That's all. Riley, we need to talk when we get back the US." I say, eyeing one of Wilkinson's men in the room watching the scene as well as everyone else. I need to hide so he doesn't find me. _"Sure. Whatever." _I roll my eyes and shake my head. Ben slips down the banister when I look up again. "Been drinking, have me? A guard asks Ben.

"Just a nip. Just popped down to the pub for a pint! Bit of all right! Going to arrest a man for that?" Abigail eyes Ben's ear and notices me. I give her a small wave when she sees the earpiece in Ben's ear. "Going to detain a blighter for enjoying his whiskey?" Ben says with a very fake British accent. Can I say he kinda sucks at a British accent? The guards take Ben and Abigail away as he yells. I cover my ears which doesn't help but this was amazing job on their part. I hear them argue all the way through security.

I listen to them attempt to flirt with each other. To blend I take a tour with some tourist. The tour guide would ask questions and I would answer them correctly, he was getting pissed that I knew more about Buckingham Palace than he did. Oh, well. People around would ask me random questions about England and where should they check next. It was quite fun to tell more about country than I thought I remembered. I mean in US History we would talk briefly about England History but not much. I block out everything Riley, Ben, and Abigail were talking about.

I walk away from the group when the tour was over, Riley grabs my arm when the alarms go off.


	5. Chase

Chapter Five: Chase

**I hope this scene is good because I wasn't sure how I was going to write it. If some parts seem off, that's okay because I have no idea what I was thinking while I was writing it. Ha. Ha.**

**Enjoy...**

We walk towards the car we parked a block away from the Palace. I roll my eyes when Riley gets stuck between two teens with dogs, which is what he's allergic to. "Come on Riley!" I yell. He catches up with us. "Thanks for waiting for me. Can I see the thing?" Riley asks. I look at Riley as he walks backwards. A wooden plank. "Went to Buckingham Palace and all I got was a this old piece of wood?" Riley turns back around but I stop when I feel someone staring at the group. I turn my head over my shoulder and my eyes bug out.

"Ben!" I pull his arm. He stops and stares. Wilkinson stares at us. "Wilkinson!" Ben says. The four of us run to the car.

"He's the one after the treasure!" I yell. "How do you know?" Riley asks.

"I'll explain in the car!" I hiss.

"I'll drive!" Riley gets in the front and goes to grab the wheel but nothings there. "We're in England. Everything is the opposite." I smirk. Riley glares at me.

Ben starts the car and the screen pops up so we could see behind us without looking behind us. I turn my head. "Gun! Get down!" I yell. I cover my head when the glass of the backseat breaks. "We're trapped! Riley says.

"Hang on! Keep your heads down." Ben drives by screen, we get forwards after driving through a hotel entrance. We suddenly stop when we see a dog there, he starts to lick the screen. "You've got to be kidding me. Riley, you made a friends." Riley glares my way. We are finally driving straight, so Abigail and I look behind us and two cars are following.

"Ben, they're getting closers!" Abigail shouts. "What is their problem?" Riley asks.

"Its a treasure. Some has to be after the treasure since my Dad is in prison." I say. "Now, explain why you knew it was Wilkinson." Riley asks.

"Fine. I recognized one of his men in Buckingham Palace that's because the day of the announcement I was getting coffee for me and Abigail when he showed me my Mum's locket. I'm not sure why he has it but he does. I need it back. He knows more about my parents than I do. My Dad said something about I know more than I think. Something happened when I was a child that I'm blocking out for a reason." I say. Riley nods. He grabs my hand and smiles. I smile. I couldn't tell them what else we talked about. Wilkinson knows more about Ben's family than anyone should. This is going to come and bite me in the ass.

"Go left! Go left!" Abigail shouts. I jump, I wasn't expecting that. Her shout stopped me and Riley from having a cute moment. "Hold on!" Ben says. He turns left along with the other guys.

"Can't we lose them yet?" I groan. One of the cars with Wilkinson crashing into us. Riley's eyes widened. "Turn, turn!" He yells. Ben turns abruptly which makes us crash into the England buss. The glass shatters on our car and the bus. Abigail covers the side of her face. "Everybody okay?" Ben asks.

"Yeah." I whisper. We get behind an oil truck. Ben groans. "Look out!" Ben yells. I see a bullet fly from one of Wilkinson's men's gun. I duck, holding onto Riley's hand. Abigail screams. The bullets fly and hit the oil cans.

"Terrible shooter." I mumble. Riley squeezes my hand as all the cans stop to fall in front of the car. One can crashes into the front window. We get in front of the oil, stopping abruptly again. "Go, go, go, go, go!" I shout. We hope Wilkinson stopped falling us since the oil truck is in front of them. Abigail's cell phone rings. I jump a bit…I didn't think anyone brought their phones. "What is that? Someone's phone." Riley says.

"Its Abigail's." I say. "It's him."

"You have his number on speed dial?" I gasp. "Oh, shut up!" Abigail hisses.

"Mitch, this has to end before someone gets hurt." Ben says. "Tell that to my father." Ben turns a corner with people walking down it. "Why are the standing in the middle of the street?" Riley asks.

"Its a local farmer's market. I used to come here all the time." I say. Ben honks to make the move. Suddenly the people on the street start to run from the car.

"Where are theses people going?" Ben asks. "Why's everyone running?" Riley asks. Abigail and I turn our heads to see a very large trucking coming towards us.

"He's right there! Go!" I shout. "Move!" Abigail shouts.

"Did I just run over a man's foot?" Ben asks. "Watch the road and the people, Ben! Forget about what you just did!" I snap. We hit the main road but go down a different little alley like street. "Go! Go! Faster!" Abigail yells. We finally hit the main road. Thank God, let's hope Mitch isn't after us.

"They're still behind us." Abigail says. "This phone have a camera in it?" Ben asks.

"No, no. Its broken."

"All right. Give me the plank." Ben says. "We're going to run a red light." Riley hands the plank over to Ben. Ben honks the car horn as we past the stop sign. We go right through the cars without messing up our retail car anymore.

"Hack into the London Police database and get a copy picture from the traffic cam." Ben orders. "Okey-dokey." Riley snaps.

"Can't do it?" He asks. "No, I can do it. I just don't like that people assume that I can do it." Riley smirks. Riley does his magic on the laptop. Abigail laughs. "Why, thank you, Riley." Ben glares and shakes his head. We hit the bridge, swerving between cars to get away from Wilkinson and his men. God, I hope this time will work.

"Ben I have an idea." Ben looks at me in the mirror. "I need the plank. Trust me." I say. Ben throws me the plank. I stick my hand out the window, Abigail holds onto my legs.

"Mitch, I need the necklace before I will give you the plank." I shout. "Why should I believe you?" He shouts back.

"Then this is going into that body of water." I smirk. Wilkinson shakes his head. "Okay." I throw the plank into the water. I smirk my way at Wilkinson.

* * *

><p>I sit next to Riley on the plane back to Washington, D.C. "Hey can we talk now?" I ask. Riley looks at me from his laptop. "Why not." He says.<p>

"I'm sorry, alright. I made a lame excuse because we were fighting like my parents. I just didn't want us to be like them." I say. "Yeah you said that before." Riley says. I think for a moment.

"I guess that was my excuse for everything, huh?" Riley nods. "I'm sorry though. I never you a really good excuse for our breakup, now I am. I wasn't ready for a commitment yet. Everything was falling out of place and now with Wilkinson. I don't know when I'll be ready. Wilkinson knows more about my family than I do. That locket could explain everything." I say. Riley takes my hand. "Ray, I understand all of this but its still not a good excuse." Riley smirks.

"What do you want then? Me to get on my knees and beg?" Riley shrugs. "Bloody hell." I mumble. I slump into my chair, listening to my music on my MacBook.


	6. Dr Appleton

Chapter Six: Dr. Appleton

**About time i posted another chapter. I just wanted to finish the story before I posted anything else. Here's chapter six, enjoy!**

Washington, D.C.:

We walk up to Patrick house in Washington, he greets us. "Riley, your in charge of Abigail's and my luggage." I smirk. I watch as Riley fails to bring the luggage into the house. "Need some help, Ri?" Riley nods. I sigh happily and help with the bags.

"Thanks." He says. "Your welcome." I say. Then I notice something. "These are your bags. Really? Do they have to be in plastic?"

"I have a lot of electronics that need to be protected." Riley says. I roll my eyes and walk into the living room where Ben and Abigail are with Patrick.

Patrick is looking at the laptop with the security picture from England. "I can't read the whole thing, but I can tell you that these are definitely pre-colonial Native American markings." Patrick says. "Easily 500 years old." Ben says.

"Easily." Patrick enlarges the photo to get a better look at the Native American markings. "I can identify one symbol. Look at this. Do you know what that is?" Patrick points to screen at the last marking.

"Sacred calendrical? I don't know." I raise an eyebrow, Ben doesn't know this. Finally the second time he doesn't know something but I think everyone doesn't know what the markings are. "That symbol is Cíbola. That's Cíbola." Patrick says.

"The City of Gold. The City of Gold." I gasp, could this be true? I've heard the stories of the City of Gold but I never thought I would come this far to actually find it with Ben.

Riley and I sit on the couch, which Abigail flipping through a book about the City of Gold. "'In 1527, a Spanish ship wrecked on the Florida coast. There were only four survivors. One was a slave named Estebán who saved a local tribe's dying chief. As a reward, he was taken to their sacred city, a city built from solid gold. Later, when Estebán tried to find the city again, he never could. But the legend grew, and every explorer came to the New World in search of it. When General Custer's search for gold ended with his last stand at Little Bighorn, it became clear none would ever find it.'" Ben read from a different copy of the tale of the City of Gold.

"Ben, can you imagine if the Confederates got their hands on the City of Gold…My God." Patrick says. He gets up from the chair and walks behind the couch. "I'm going to go talk to her." Ben says. Patrick stops and turns. "You're coming with me."

"No!"

"Hey. No one else can translate it." Ben stops his Dad from walking out of the room. "There are others. There are several others." Patrick says.

"For ancient Native American? No one better." Ben says. "Who?" Riley asks. I shake my head. I'm not telling him just yet. Abigail gets on the couch to watch the scene between father and son.

"Look, Ben, I can't go with you. It's been, what? Twenty-five years." Patrick says. "Thirty-two." Ben says.

"That long?" Patrick walks back over to us in front of the fireplace. "There's a reason why we haven't spoken in 32 years. We have nothing in common." He says.

"Me?"

"Oh, yes of course. And I'm sure she's just as proud of you as I am." Patrick says. "Who?" Riley asks.

"His Mom." I smirk.

* * *

><p>University of Maryland:<p>

I walk down the familiar hallway down to Dr. Appleton's office. I was here for 2 years before transferred to where I am now. "Will you relax? It's gonna be fine." Ben says. "Sure. I should look at the bright side. Its been a long time. Maybe she lost her memory, won't recognize me." Patrick says.

A teen girl slams the door walking between us. I see Riley eye the girl. I smack his shoulder. "What?" I just smirk at him.

"We're in the right place." Patrick says. Ben opens the door first and walks in with Abigail. "I'm gonna take myself out of the line of fire for this one, guys." I turn to my ex. "Baby." I mumble.

"Hi Mom." Ben smiles. "Benjamin!" Dr. Appleton says. "Abigail! What a surprise! Hello, sweetheart."

"Hey Dr. Appleton." I smile at my old teacher. "Raven Howe, what a pleasured surprise. How are you?" She hugs me.

"I'm good. Almost done with my degree." I smile. "That's good! I do miss you in my classes." I laugh. Emily's face drops. "Oh." I look to what she's looking at. Patrick.

"You see? One syllable, a knife in the heart." Patrick says. "Oh, no." Ben laughs.

"She can do that!"

"Yes, and I can also track the whereabouts of my toothbrush." Emily snaps. "I was not the one that left the toothbrushes in Marrakech. I stowed them both in the travel case, as instructed." Patrick snaps.

"Yes, and you also…and you also insisted on loading the luggage into the taxi." Emily says. I sit down in a chair watching the scene. So many arguments this time around. "I didn't insist. I loaded the luggage."

"Yes, but not the travel case!" Emily points out. "The travel case is not luggage. The case goes into the luggage. Who was in charge of packing the luggage?" Patrick asks. Abigail leans against the desk.

"I couldn't get the case into the luggage because it was full with that stupid rug you brought. You thought it had secret stitching. How stupid was that?" Ben tries to get their attention. "It did have secret stitching." Patrick protests.

"Emily! Patrick! Sorry, please." I shout over them. Ben shows his Mom the photo while giving his father a look. "What is that a picture of?" Emily asks.

"Ben running through a red light in London." I smirk. "Raven." Ben snaps.

"We think its might be Olmec." Ben glares at me then his father. "It is." Dr. Appleton says. "Yes, yes, definitely proto-Zoquean." Emily says.

"We were hoping that you could translate it." Patrick says. "Yes, of course you were." Emily says coldly. Emily puts on her glasses but stops. "Oh, this doesn't involve another treasure hunt, does it?"

"Of course, not. Dr. Appleton. Its something I need for school. Its very important." I smile. She always believed me when I said it was something for school.

"All right. What have we got here?" I stand up to look at the picture along with Ben and Abigail. "This…this glyph here, that means 'bird'. And that means…" Emily looks up at Patrick who stood up a little. "Uh, 'noble bird.' 'Find the noble bird, let him take you by the hand and give you passage to the sacred temple'." Emily starts to laugh.

"Oh, you think this is a treasure map for Cíbola, don't you?" Emily asks. Damn, she figured it out. "Well, that is exactly what it is." Patrick says.

"No, Patrick. This glyph doesn't mean 'Cíbola.' It means 'the center of the world'." Emily says. I rub my forehead. "You know, you used to like it. She fell in love with me on a treasure hunt." Patrick says. I raise an eyebrow at Ben and Abigail. They seem a lot like Ben's parents.

"That was not love. That was excitement, adrenaline, and tequila." I close my eyes to get any image out of my head about Ben's parents. God, I'd rather have nightmares about my parents rather than Ben's. "And, I was trying to get course credit." Ben tries to get his parents attention again but they ignore him.

"Well, the treasure hunting paid off, in case you haven't read the papers lately." Patrick snaps. "That had nothing to do with you. That was Ben. Ben found the treasure. You did nothing!" Emily snaps.

"Patrick, Emily, please. Can we just figure out what's on the page?" Abigail asks. "Well, that's it, I'm afraid. These glyphs are only partials. So you only have half a treasure map." Emily says.

"Half? How the hell do we only have half?" I snap. "I'm sorry." Emily says. I sigh, great…At least we know where the only half is.

* * *

><p>Outside University of Maryland, the five of us walk down the path away from the college. "At least we know where the rest of the map is." Ben says. "What? You know where it is? Why didn't you tell me?" Patrick asks.<p>

Ben stops and turns to his father. "Because obviously you have a tendency to overreact!" He yells. "I'm sorry." Patrick says.

"So am I." Ben says.

"So where is it?"

"The inscription on the statue in Paris said, 'These twins stand resolute.'" Ben says. "We think the map's divided between the two Resolute desks." Abigail says.

"The Resolute desk. The Resolute desks? The President's desk?" Patrick puts his hands in his pockets. "The president. What president? Our president?" Riley asks. I nod.

"Yep."

"But that means…Wait, so we have to…The White House?" Riley asks. "The Oval Office…to be exact." Ben says.

"Why would I overreact to that?" Patrick says. I giggle. Patrick frowns at me.


	7. Plank Number Two

Chapter Seven: Plank Number Two

**Chapter Seven. Not much to say besides, Enjoy!**

I sit next to Riley with my laptop open to The White House website up on the screen. "The Resolute desk in near the south wall in the Oval Office. Look at this." Patrick sets down a book on the table. I ignore what Patrick and Ben talk about. Riley scrolls down the page until I spot something that could work. "Guys, read this." I say. "This could work." Abigail smiles.

"Why Abigail, I believe it's time for you to make a date with your new boyfriend." Ben says. "I think you're right." Abigail says. I chuckle at Patrick's look. He has no idea what the joke is.

* * *

><p>The White House, Easter Egg Roll:<p>

I walk around the Back Lawn with Riley as a bunny "hops" by handing me a stuffed tiny bunny. "Thanks." I smile. The person inside "hops" away. "I wonder if that's Connor?" I joke. Riley laughs, I point to where Ben and Abigail are. Connor's with them. I smile at them. Our plans are working.

"Our evil plan is working." He chuckles. Little kids run around us and through us. I laugh until a child falls to the ground scraping her knee. I bend down and help the child up. She starts to cry. "Aw, its alright. Ri, can you check my purse and see if I have a bandaid?" I ask. Riley nods, pulling a bandage out of the purse that I had Riley hold for a bit. He hands me the bandage and I put it on the little girl's knee.

"Does that feel better?" I ask. She nods, wiping away tears. The girl runs away, I take the purse from Riley and smile. "Your great with kids." Riley says.

"I said in early childhood learning before I decided history was more my thing." I say. I push some of my hair behind me ear. Riley nods with a smile. I grab his hand. "Let's get out of here. Ben and Abigail will meet us at the van. We walk back towards Patrick, he sees us holding hands.

* * *

><p>"At least one couple is getting back together." He smiles. I look at Riley with my mouth open. "No, we are just getting along. That's all." I remove my hand and look at the White House.<p>

Ben and Abigail meets us at the front. "It was empty." Ben says. I sigh. Nothing is going our way. "Someone must've taken it." Abigail says.

"Brightest men in our country say at that desk for over a hundred years." Patrick says. "Look at this." Ben takes out the camera to show us a picture.

"Of course one of 'em found the map." Patrick says. "A symbol stamped into the wood." Ben says.

"The presidential seal."

"It's not the presidential seal. See, the eagle's holding a scroll instead of olive branches." Abigail says. "I'm not sure what this is." Ben says.

"What do we do?" Patrick asks. I look behind me and see Riley pacing back and forth. "Did none of you read my book?" Riley asks. Everyone turns to look at my ex. "The eagle clutching the scroll."

"Do you know what it means?" Ben asks. "Yeah. But it's not something I could tell you. Its something I can show you…in my book." Riley says.

Ben rips open the book Riley sent to him. "You didn't even…open it?" Riley sighs. "I was moving." Ben says.

"Chapter 13." Ben flips through the book until he hits chapter 13 entitled: The President's Secret Book. I guess Riley did all his research because I didn't think the book was even real. "'The President's Secret Book'?" I question.

"'The President's Secret Book.' It happens to be a collection of documents for presidents by presidents, and for presidents' eyes only. I'm not talking about JFK here, guys. The 18 and a half missing of the Watergate tapes. Did the Apollo really land on the moon? Did it? Did it? And the coup de grâce…Area 51." Riley smiles. "This is…" I start.

"Crazy?"

"Yes." I snap. "Hm. 'Cause last time I checked, we pretty much make our living on crazy." Riley says.

"You have a point." I mumble.

"Hm, what was that?" He smirks. "You have a point, Riley." I hiss.

"Same symbol." Patrick points to the symbol on the top of the scanned letter. "It was released in '66 under the Freedom of Information Act. The eagle and the scroll, the secret symbol in the President's Book." Riley says.

"So you're saying that whatever was on the plank is now in the President's Secret Book?" Patrick asks. Ben doesn't say a word through all of this. I'm guessing he's having a hard time believing all of this. "Ben. If it was you trying to convince me…you'd have less evidence, and I'd already believe you by now." Riley says.

* * *

><p>Back at Patrick's place. "Riley can you hand me my purse again?" I ask. Riley groans something, throwing the purse over to me. It falls two inches in front of me. Riley's book falls out along with my phone, lipstick tube, and my car keys. "You have my book? I thought you said you didn't read it." Riley says.<p>

"When you didn't send a free copy to your ex, I had to buy one." I say. I pick up everything but Riley grabs the book before me. He flips through the pages seeing all my notes I wrote in it. "You thought I stole your notes to make my book?" He asks.

"Some of the writing seemed like mine! I'm sorry, okay. I was expecting a book from you when Abigail got hers." I snap. Ben walks through the door as we start to fight again. "Guys, enough with the fighting! You're acting like children." Ben snaps. I cross my arms and glare at my ex.

* * *

><p>"All I need is a few minutes with him." Ben says. "A few minutes? Really? Even if you were married to the president, you won't be able to get a few minutes with him." Riley says.<p>

"Not when he's surrounded by his handlers. If I get him alone…" Ben says. "How do you think you're going to get the president alone, Ben? This is insane plan." I snap.

"Before the Civil War, the states were all separate. People used to say, 'The United States are.' It wasn't until the war ended people started saying, 'The United States is.' Under Lincoln…we became one nation." Ben says. "And Lincoln paid for it with his life." Patrick says.

"So did Thomas Gates."

"Right." Patrick says. "With his life." Ben mumbles.

There is a silences through the room. I stand up and lean against the fire place that has a log on it. Patrick paces back and forth. Riley is still pissed at me but I don't care at this moment and Abigail is just sitting on the couch waiting for Ben to continue with the plan. "So how am I gonna get him alone?" Ben says. Each of us stare at him, and wait. "I'm gonna kidnap him. I'm gonna kidnap the president of the United States."

Abigail laughs. "That's not funny." Riley blinks. "I'm your father. How do you expect me to respond? I can't let you ruin your life." Patrick snaps.

"Are you out of your mind?" Abigail asks as she stands up. "Read my book, and you'd know you can't get to that book." Riley says. I roll my eyes.

"Stop! Ben, how is this plan going to work?" I ask. "I was thinking Mount Vernon." Ben says. I nod my head.

"Oh."

"Good plan."

"What?"

"I'm in." Riley says.


	8. Library of Congress

Chapter Eight: Library of Congress

**We're getting close to the end of the story. Three more chapters and a bonus chapter like the previous story!**

Patrick, Riley, and I book fake parties so the President's birthday party will be held at Mount Vernon. I lean against the doorframe watching Riley set his feet off Patrick's desk. "Having fun?" I ask as he looks up at me. He puts a finger to his lips. He hangs up the phone and smiles at me. "I was. Mount Vernon has been booked." I chuckle.

"Now, what are we going to do? I mean we can't have parties at these places." I say. "We might as well." Patrick says.

"How? I don't even know 300 people." I say. "We'll think of something." Patrick says. I shake my head.

"About the book…" Riley starts. "Let's not argue." I say.

"No, I mean I was going to send you one but then I thought you might not want a copy because of everything that happened between us." Riley says. "When you said you were writing a book, I was all for it." I say.

"Yes, you were but yet again you hid your notes from me." Riley points out. I bite my bottom lip. It was true now that I think about it. "I remember that, now. Those notes you saw were my mental notes to look up for more information and my history teacher actually had a copy in class. It was quite odd, especially when students started to ask if I knew you and if we were dating." I say.

"Really." I nod, walking over to my ex. "I'm not begging for anything." I say. Our legs touch.

"There's a reason I want you to beg." He says. I roll my eyes. "No, Riley. I told you before." Riley nods.

"I understand but come on, Ray. We need to forget about your parents and just get back together." Riley stands up in front of me. "Not until I get that locket." I say. Riley touches my arm but I move away from my ex and get ready for the party that going to happen.

* * *

><p>Riley, Abigail, and I wait outside the Library of Congress to look for the President's Book. I cross my arms and lean against the bricks. "Hey." Abigail says. "Hey." Ben replies. We walk into the Library of Congress.<p>

"We're close."

We enter the Library of Congress, I look around. This is the first time I've been here. I try to keep up with the group. "Where do we start?" I whisper.

"XY is the book classification code." Abigail says. "Stands for special collections, which means very, _very_ special books. Where are they?" Ben asks.

"This way. We'll have to sneak in." Abigail says. We go through some of the book cases so we don't seem too suspicious. Ben stops the door from closing with his hand. We sneak in and run up some flights of stairs until we get to some books. "Here we go. XA…XM…" Abigail says. We walk away from the books and find a door. Abigail attempts to open the door. "Abigail, look." I touch the mark on the door.

"The eagle and the scroll." I say. "What's the code Ben?"

"Three-seven-nine-four." Ben mumbles as she presses each button. I smile at Riley as we walk into the room. Woah, loads of books that we have to sort through. Joy. "What did the president say the number was?" Abigail asks.

"Two-three-four-seven-eight-six." I blink, my God. He said that code quickly. I grab Riley's hand and pull him towards a bookcase to find the secret book. Ben mumbles the number. "Here!" He says. Abigail walks over. Abigail and Ben both mumble the code number as they glide their finger across the shelf. Their fingers touch.

"Its not there." Ben says. Ben takes a book off the shelf. "Maybe someone checked it out." Riley says. I roll my eyes.

"Why would he send us here if there's no book?" Abigail asks. I look at the bookcase again. I notice a gold combination lock there. "He probably wanted us to get caught." Riley says. I grab the ladder and push my friends out of the way.

"What the hell are you doing, Ray?" Riley snaps. I hand the books to Riley to expose the combination lock. "What is that?" Abigail asks.

"A six-dial combination lock." Ben says. I climb down the ladder so Ben can put in the code. Ben climbs the ladder. "The location is the combination." Ben says.

"The location is the combination." Riley whispers. Ben turns the dials to get the correct code. Two-three-four-seven-eight-six. We hear a click then the secret compartment opens to reveal the President's Secret Book. Ben reaches out and grabs the book. "I was right."

"Well done, Mr. Poole." Ben says. Ben sets the President's Book to open it. Riley places the pile of books I handed to him. Ben undoes the leather tie on the notebook. "The eagle with the scroll." Riley fingers the leather imprint. Ben opens the notebook and starts to go through the pages to find our information about the plank. "Area 51!" Riley says.

"Shh!"

"The Kennedy assassination!"

"Shh! We don't have time." Ben whispers. "Yeah, that's true." Riley says, clearing his throat.

Ben continues to flip through the pages until he says, "Here. Wait." I look over Ben's shoulder as he reads. "'April 1865. Queen Victoria sends Pike two coded missives. The first is received. Contains information regarding New World treasure. The City of Gold.'"

"Wait, the Queen wanted to help the Confederacy?" RIley asks. "Well if we divided America would have been weaker." I say.

"And we needed cotton from the South." Ben adds. "'The second missive was thought to contain a Playfair cipher suggesting contact with Laboulaye, who'll hide clues before his death.' That's the cipher written into the Booth diary page that Thomas tried to burn."

"The one we have." Riley says. "Exactly. '1880. Resolute desk arrives in Washington, sent by queen to President Hayes.'" Ben turns the page and holds up a old photo.

"The missing plank from the White House." Abigail says. "Here's the final entry by President Coolidge. '1924. I found a plank in secret desk compartment. Plank photographed and then destroyed. Borglum commissioned to destroy landmarks in sacred Black Hills mountains.'" Ben reads off the pages.

"Borglum. Mount Rushmore?" Abigail asks. "He carved Mount Rushmore to erase the map's landmarks in order to protect the City of Gold." Ben says.

"Mount Rushmore was a cover-up."

Suddenly we hear police sirens blare from the road. "What is it?" Riley asks. Riley and I go to the window. "There's my tax dollars at work, coming to arrest me."

"There not coming for you, they're for me. Go to the car." Ben says. "No! Ben!" Abigail snaps.

"Go! I'll meet up with you." Ben says. Abigail, Riley and I run out of the room. "Raven. Call my Dad!" Ben yells before the door closes.

We go downstairs, following Abigail to a secret passage way only for employes. "This way!" Abigail says out of breath. We run down a few flights of stairs. I call Patrick on the way.

_"Raven, what's going on? I had to move the car." _I dodge people who are in the way of me.

"I know. Ben should have sent you a picture of the plank to your phone. Did you get it?"

_"You can send pictures to your phone?"_

"Yes, did you get it? Its important!" I hear cops follow us.

_"I got it." _

"Okay, good. Take it to Emily for translation."

_"Why me?" _

"Because we're in the middle of an FBI chase, Patrick. Just do it. Your the only one who knows about her talent."

_"Fine. Where are you?"_

"Trying to get out of the Library. We'll meet you soon. Oh, one more thing."

_"Yes, Ray?"_

"Wilkinson is after the treasure and your phone has been copied. So no more talking to us on your cell. Wilkinson, I know your listening, I would like that locket when we met again." I hang up my cell phone when we enter the car lot. "How are we going to find Ben?" Riley asks.

"I don't know." Abigail sighs.

"Hold it! Who are you?" A security guard stops us. We jump, we weren't expecting them down here. "We work here." Abigail covers.

"IDs." Abigail and I hand over our IDs to the guards. "Here. We were told to evacuate." I say.

"I don't know what's going on." Riley starts. My eyes widen when I see Ben scale the wall behind the guards. "My car's parked…" Abigail tries to cover for us.

"One second I'm reading…a book, then we're rushed out…" Riley tries to convince the guards what he was doing. "Special section for…" Abigail says.

"Go ahold."

"Thanks." Abigail, Riley, and I rush off to Abigail's car. We get in. I put my seatbelt on. "Start the car, Abigail." I mumble.

"Put it in gear." Riley says. I look out my window and see Ben hiding behind the car next to us. The guard shines a light in our eyes. "Dammit." I hiss.

"What's the problem? It's clear. Let's go!" The guard yells. "We're going to jail." Riley says. Abigail presses the trunk button so Ben can get it. Abigail drives away making the guard jump out of the way. "Get in! Hang on!" Ben jumps into the car. We got out of the parking garage, now all we have to do is get over the barricade before they lock it. Abigail drives over the barricades, losing something off her car. I look behind us and see a cop car is crushed by the barricades.

"That did not turn out the way it was supposed to!" Riley snaps. "How'd they find us so quickly?" Abigail asks.

"I'll tell you how. The President is a tattletale!" Riley snaps. "Sedusky. He was there. He knows more about the book than I thought." Ben says.

"So how'd the president feel about being kidnapped?" I ask. "He was OK." Ben says.

"Raven, tell me about the phone call between Patrick and yourself." Riley asks. "I figured out that Wilkinson copied Patrick's phone and was everywhere we were. He's probably with Emily right now. He has something I want and I will kill him for it." I snap.


	9. Mount Rushmore

Chapter Nine: Mount Rushmore

**Enjoy!**

Mount Rushmore:

The five of us go to Mount Rushmore after figuring out Emily's clue. Riley and I pretend to be reading a book about Mount Rushmore. Riley whistles over to Abigail who's asking for directions. I stand with Riley, I watch the scene but I don't listen. I know what's going to happen, exactly what happened with the last treasure and my Dad. "You can have all the treasure." Ben says. "What?" I snap. I knew that would be a part but I never thought he would actually say that to the enemy.

"I'm going with you. But if anyone's gonna be credited for discovering the City of Gold, it's going to be me." Mitch says. "Your partners stay here and all the guns." I say pushing through his men.

"What makes you think I'd agree to that?" Mitch smirks. "Because, I'm one step ahead of you." I say with a smile on my head.

"Fine, we'll do it your way." Mitch hands the gun over to one of his men. "Believe me…I don't need the guns." I raise an eyebrow at Ben.

"You too."

"Oh come on." I groan. I hand the gun over to the same man Wilkinson handed his gun to. "I don't need a gun either, Wilkinson." I push myself away from him when Riley grabs my arm.

"What are you planning?" He whispers. "I'll let you know." I hiss. I pull my arm away and follow everyone to the top of the mountain where no one is supposed to be.

* * *

><p>"I still don't see anything that looks like a noble bird." Abigail yells. "All right, Mitch. Let's have it. What did the letter say? What's the clue from Queen Victoria's letter?" Ben asks. I never noticed Wilkinson was sitting on the rocks, doing nothing which we were searching for the clue.<p>

"'The entrance shall only be revealed under a cloudless rain.' Figure that out." Mitch says. "So we come back when its raining?" Riley asks.

"'Cloudless.' Could simply mean the sun. You need a sunny day…and rain. We need water." Ben swiftly takes off his backpack taking out a bottle of water and pouring it over the rocks. He throws a bottle of water to Abigail then me. "Everyone, the water makes the rock darker. Use the water."

Abigail walks around until she gets closer to me. I look at her, she looks at me. We pour the remained of our water bottles on the rock that has an opening. We wait for the water to cover the opening but it doesn't. I look closely, its an eagle. "Abigail! We found it!" I squeal.

"We found it! Over here!" Abigail yells. Everyone runs over to us. I move out of the way so Ben could get closer to the rocks. I walk over toward Riley. Everyone admires the eagle Abigail and I discovered. "'The noble bird…'" Ben mumbles.

"'Will give you passage.'" Emily says. "Uh-huh. Now what?" Abigail asks.

"I think we need to join hands, and in a noble manner, pass over the bird." Riley says. I take a step back from my ex. "Seriously?" I snap. Emily gives him a look and shakes her head. My ex, Patrick, and Emily talk about what they think is going to happen. Emily and Patrick have a better idea rather than bird boy over there.

"You can stand around guessing for a while, or I can give you the next clue." Wilkinson says. Everyone shuts up to listening to the clue. "'Surrender your hand to the heart of the warrior.'"

"And the eagle is the symbol of the warrior." Emily says. Ben looks at his hand before putting into the "mouth" of the rock as I'm going to call it. "Ben, no. Wait, wait! No." Emily gasps. Ben pulls his hand away and stares at her. "That's probably a horrible trap. Tell him!" She smacks Patrick.

"It's a horrible trap."

"It would be a pity to come this far and not even try, now, wouldn't it?" Mitch says. "I'll do it, Ben." Riley says.

"No you won't. Your not going to lose your hand if that a trap." I snap. Ben glares at me. "Sorry."

"Surrender your hand." Ben whispers as he puts his hand into the "mouth". The tension builds as he puts his whole arm into the "mouth". Suddenly, he screams which makes me jump and grab onto Riley's forearm, then he laughs at our reactions to his fake getting hurt. "I am sorry. I…I couldn't resist." Ben chuckles. Abigail punches his arm.

"I'm so getting your back, Benjamin!" I hiss. Patrick laughs at his son. "It, uh…feels like a latch." Ben says. Everyone listens carefully when a crackling sound comes from behind us. The seven of us turn towards the sound seeing rocks fall from an opening to find the City of Gold.

* * *

><p>Everyone walks into the cavern and see everything. I turn on my flashlight and move it across the room. "Ben, what is that?" I ask, shining my light on something. "Appears to be a counterweight to hold the door open." Ben says.<p>

"What is that sound?" Riley asks when we hear a groaning sound. I look down and see his by the counterweight. "Riley move!" I scream when he touches the counterweighted robes. The counterweight collapses on itself, thanks to Riley. With the counterweight breaking, I lose my footing on the top but I'm hanging off the ledge of the landing. The door locks shut. "You okay?" I hear Mitch ask Riley. "No." He mumbles.

"Riley, get your ass over here and help me down!" I yell. I'm so glad I'm not afraid of heights. "Ray, your going to have to let go. I'll catch you." Riley says.

"Like the last time?" I shake my head. "Come on, Raven. Just jump. I promise to catch you." Riley says. I look down at Riley and see him ready to catch me. I let go of the ledge and fall into Riley's arms but instead we fall on top of each other. I'm on top and his on the bottom.

"This is what I thought was going to happen." I smirk. Riley rolls his eyes and smiles at me. "We end up on top of each other a lot more often than we should." Riley chuckles. I go to get off him but he leans up and kisses me. I haven't forgot how he kisses me but I have longed for it. I missed his lips, I know that sounds a little disturbing but I don't care.

"Can you two stop the make out session down there? We have a treasure to look for." Mitch snaps. I break the kiss and glare at Wilkinson. I go to say something but I control myself. I rather by on Mitch's bad side but not his killing side. I help Riley up from the ground, holding onto his hand as we walk through the small opening. "I've never seen so many relics. So beautifully preserved." Emily gasps.

I feel Riley pull me towards something. "Guys, look at this." He holds up a lantern to get a better look. "Its a little golden man. Look. It's got a tiny little torso. Look at that. It look like…" He stops in mid-sentence when the floor opens up making Wilkinson, Ben, Abigail, Riley, and I fall onto our asses going down. Patrick and Emily backwards rather than following us. I land on my back with Riley falling next to me. I slide down but Riley grabs my arm. "Move back! Move back!" Ben shouts. I get to my feet, moving backwards to help Ben up from falling off the edge of the balancing square.

"Riley, move forward! Move forward!" Ben yells. Riley does what he says to do. "No, back up, back up!" Riley falls on his ass again.

"What do you want me to do?" He shouts.

"Stop! Stop!" We attempt to balance the square but it keeps moving every time someone swifts. "We have to balance our weight to even this thing out." Ben says. Mitch slowly turns and shines his flashlight down to the ground.

"There's nothing. Just a big old black hole." Mitch says. Abigail moves her flashlight over the room. "Ben, look! There's a ladder. I mean, what's left of a ladder." Abigail sighs.

"Toss me a light." Ben says. Abigail throws the flashlight to him. "Riley. Move slowly to that corner." Ben says. Riley starts to move."No! Wait. Just…As I move to this corner."

"Okay."

"One step at a time. Good." Ben says as they move slowly to each corner. "If we can raise this corner, I think I'll reach it." Mitch walks away from where he was. Our balance is thrown off by him. Everyone starts shouting at Wilkinson.

"Goddammit, Wilkinson. Not kill us!" I scream. Abigail, Riley, and I try to get Ben and Mitch's attention but they aren't paying attention. Ben grabs Wilkinson's shirt collar then looks down in the black bottomless pit. "We'll do this your way." Ben says. Ben and Wilkinson switch places. "The rest of us, on my count of three, all move together." I nod as Wilkinson moves to where Ben was earlier. "One step at a time."

"One, two, three." We take a step closer to each other, then another. Wilkinson throws his flashlight up there to the opening. Riley grabs onto everyone to pull us closer. Wilkinson grabs the ladder piece "You ready?" Mitch asks.

"Go." Ben says. We run into the center of the square. We watch as Mitch attempts to get up the ladder, under his weight one of the wood pieces breaks. Mitch pulls himself up and over into the opening. "Mitch, what do you see?" Riley shouts. "Is there a way out?"

"Wilkinson, what the hell is up there?" I snap. We stand there waiting for a response from Wilkinson to our questions. "Mitch! Come on!" Riley yells.

"I've been doing the math there, and…" Abigail starts. "I know." Ben says.

"We have to left one person behind." Abigail says. "Just promise you'll come back for me. I can do the math too." I smile at Riley.

"Who's next?" I ask. "I'll go." Abigail says.

"No we should go together." I say. Abigail shakes her head. "Please, Abigail?" Abigail shakes her head, no.

"I'll go last." Everyone nods in agreement. "'No, we'll figure something else out, Riley.' 'We need you there. Please, Riley.' 'Riley, I can't live without you.'" I roll my eyes when he attempts to copy our voices. Abigail laughs. "I'm just kidding. Go." Riley says. I grab onto Riley's arm and we move back as Abigail moves forward. Abigail throws up the lantern and grabs onto the ladder.

"One…two…three!" Abigail yells. "Go!" I shout. The balance square starts to break under our feet. "You've got to be bloody kidding me!" I groan. I try to keep my balance, inching myself to the ladder where Abigail is struggling to get up.

"What are you doing?" Riley asks. "Nothing!" Ben says.

"I can't get it!" Abigail yells. "Mitch!" I scream. Wilkinson grabs Abigail's hand to pulls her to safety. I jump onto the ladder, pulling myself up until I lose my handle on the last wooden piece. I scream when Riley jumps into the ladder.

"Riley, hang on!" I scream. "Raven! You okay?" Riley asks. I feel my right hand loosing its grip.

"Abigail, Mitch! Help me!" I scream. Mitch grabs onto my backpack and pulls me to safety.

"Ben, that's a gold idol! We can roll it over to offset you weight!" Abigail yells. "Then, roll it!" Ben says. Wilkinson and Abigail roll the idol over the edge, it breaks the platform as Ben runs to get a good jump.

"Ben, come on!" I scream. Ben jumps and makes it. Thank God. "Here! I've me your hand!" Riley yells. Ben grabs his friend's hand. Riley pulls him up to where he is.

"Why couldn't a girl see me do that?" Riley asks. I raise an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" I ask.

"I mean, I love you?" Riley asks. "Nice try." I pull him up to my level.

"You're okay. You're okay. You're okay." Abigail keeps repeating over and over again when she helps Ben up. "So…forward." Mitch says. I turn to Wilkinson. Can't we have a nice minute together knowing everyone is safe. God, what a dumbass.


	10. Thank God I Can Swim

Chapter Ten: Thank God I Can Swim

**Second to last chapter plus bonus! Enjoy!**

We make our way through a tiny walkway as Mitch leads the way. I hear water when we enter a dark room. "I can't see anything. Is this it?" Riley yells over the roaring water. Ben puts his fingers into something near the wall. "Its oil." Ben pulls off his backpack and pulls out a flare. He lights it with the cap and pushes it into the oil, one side of the wall lights up. Ben does the same to the other side. The room lights up and there's water pouring out everywhere.

"It's a dead end! There's no way out!" Abigail yells. I look at the ground, maybe there's a way out that way. I see a wheel like contraption. "We have to turn back!"

"Turn back to what, Abigail?" I snap. I look around waiting for Ben to do something. I bend down getting my jeans wet but at this point I can't give a damn. I shine my flashlight into the water. "There's no forward."

"No, its down!" I yell. "What?" Abigail says.

"Raven's right. All this water has to go out somewhere. Otherwise, it'd be filled up!" Ben says. "Ben the wheel!" I say.

"Help me turn this wheel!" Ben yells. I grab onto one side of the wheel, pulling up with the group, we moved the wheel. I heard the water go down as we stop moving the wheel.

* * *

><p>Wilkinson leads us, again down a tunnel that was just filled with water. Riley is in the back with the flare which isn't such a good idea since the last time he had something with fire, he almost set the house on fire. We stand together in a line staring at what we found. We actually found the City of Gold. I can't believe! No, scratch that…I <em>can <em>believe we found it. Thomas Gates would be so proud that we cleared his name. I drop my flashlight just because this is so amazing. Ben smiles at the sight. "Ben! Ben!" I hear Dr. Appleton shout. I turn my head and see Patrick and Emily waving to us. "Dad! We found it!" Ben yells.

"Thomas was right!" Patrick says. "No, you were right." Ben smiles.

"I'm sorry I smeared your great-great granddaddy's good name. It seemed like the only way to get in on the hunt. But this was a chance for the Wilkinson family to make its mark on history, To find the City of Gold, to be remembered." Mitch says. That's more to this than we all think. Everyone goes their separate ways to look at the City of Gold. "Can you give me the locket now?" I ask. I stand behind Wilkinson when he shines his light on an opening. Water falls from it. "That's sucks." I mumble. Its a good thing I can swim.

"Now, about the locket." I say. "I don't have it." He says walking away.

"Excuse me! You've got to be bloody kidding me. You saved me from being killed and you say you don't have my Mum's locket!" I snap. "Its good that you finally figured out if was your Mom's." Mitch walks away from me. I walk over to Riley and sit down next to him. He's attempting to stuff a very large gold brick into this backpack as a souvenir from the trip.

"What was that about?" Riley asks. "He doesn't have the locket on him." I mumble when I hear a cracking sound in the distance.

"Did you hear that?" I ask. "Hear…" Riley starts when the cracking gets louder.

"What was that?" Riley asks. "Listen." Abigail says. Everyone goes quiet to listen carefully to the sounds. Suddenly, rocks come flying out from the walls because of the water that was pushed through. Riley and I get soaked with water. "Come on!" I grab his hand as water falling all around us. I make him run down the slippery stairs to where Ben and every is on top of the center away from the water.

"I tried to find a way out. All those portals are blocked off!" Mitch yells over the rushing water. "I'm telling you, all this water goes out somewhere. We'll find it." Ben says. Patrick rolls up a dollar into a bowl and drops it to follow the current.

"Ben, there's a current!" Patrick yells. "Follow it! There's got be a central drain!" Ben yells back.

"Ben, its under us! Right here!" I snap.

Ben and Wilkinson saw us an opening, we stare for a moment until rocks start to fall around us. "Come on!" Ben yells. Riley pushes me into the opening when Abigail goes then he pushes the others into the only opening to get the water out. We came across a door that can only be opened by another wheel. Why are there so many wheels in this treasure? "The water's rising too fast! Let's get that door open so we don't all drown!" Ben yells. Wilkinson and Ben push the wheel to open the door. Patrick shines his light down the opening.

"Ben, it slopes down! It's a drainage tunnel but it fills with water when you open the door!" Patrick says. "We need to find something to stick under it to keep it open!" Abigail shouts.

"No, if it's open, this tunnel will stay flooded!" I snap. Abigail gives me a look. "We've got to get to the other side and close the door."

"Patrick, Emily, go!" Riley says. Patrick, Emily, and Abigail go towards the door. "NO!" I scream when I see Mitch move away from the wheel. Ben dumps once then twice as the door slams closed. Everyone screams no when the door shuts. I knew Wilkinson would do something like this.

"Mitch, we have to be on the other side of that door!" Riley snaps.

"Nobody leaves unless I say so. That door is not gonna stay open by itself. We both know what has to happen here, Ben." Wilkinson says. "One of us keeps the door open and stays behind." Ben says.

"I vote Mitch." Riley says. I nod in agreement. "This isn't a democracy." Mitch says. He punches Ben in the head. Ben falls and Riley goes to throw a punch but Mitch bets him to it. "Riley!" I scream when Mitch grabs me and puts a knife to my throat.

"Stop! I'll stay! I'm staying. Look." Ben shouts. "Look! See ? I'm right here! I'm staying!" Ben moves to the wheel.

"I'll tell everybody how this is going to go. You and me are going to open that door. Anybody tries to leave before me, I drop the door, we start this all over again! You try any funny business, I guarantee you people are going to get hurt!" Mitch gives us his orders. I knew something like this was going to happen but I didn't think it was going to happen like this. "I won't! You have my word. Just let Raven go." Ben says. Mitch holds onto me for a extra moment before letting me go but I have other plans. I grab the knife and point it at his throat.

"Raven!" Abigail shouts. "Tell me what I need to know about why you have my Mum's locket!" I hiss. Riley tries to loosen my grip on the knife.

"Raven, let it go!" Riley snaps. I look at Riley and take a deep breath. "Raven, please." I drop the knife and hug Riley. I don't know what I was going to do to Wilkinson but it was a split second idea.

"Ben, no, we're not leaving without you." Emily shouts. Wilkinson goes to he's station for the time being. "Abigail." Ben says. Abigail makes her way towards Ben.

"You make my parents leave. You make my parents leave." Ben says. Abigail touches his face before coming towards Patrick and Emily. "No!" I scream.

"Guys, he trying to save our lives!" Abigail says. I nod with tears filling my eyes. If Ben doesn't survive this I don't know how we're going to react. The door opens and we all get washed away. "The current's too strong!" I hear Riley says. I try to keep my head over the water but that doesn't work. I hold onto Abigail and Riley. Ben gets ready to hold it for us.

"I'm ready!"

"Its all yours!" Mitch says. Riley and I get separated from each other but I do make it on the other side of the door. I grab onto something and I see it's Riley's leg. I lift my head out from under the water. "We need to get Ben!" I shout. Riley nods. Riley and I go under the water and start to swim to get Ben. I surface for a moment before going back under. The door is open more that before. Riley and I grab Ben to get him on the other side. We hear a scream coming from Mitch when the door slams closed. I close up any water that entered my lungs and lean against the door with Riley's hand on my shoulder. I can hear the water on the other side rush against the door. Abigail leans her head on Ben's shoulder. Emily does the same to Patrick. The water lowers and a light shines through the darkness. We all stand up, stretching our tension body parts.

"We haven't official met. I'm Riley." Riley introduces to Emily. "Oh, hi." Emily smiles. I hold onto Riley's arm as we walk out of the tunnel.


	11. Talks That Change Everything

Chapter Eleven: Talks That Change Everything

**The last chapter. I really enjoyed writing this and I have an idea about making a third one with my own story. It might take a while because I left you with a cliffhanger if you can call it that. **

**I hope Ian breaks out of prison in the 3rd one because I don't want an idiot for a villain like Wilkinson was.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story! I hoped you enjoyed everything I wrote! Look out for a 3rd one if I decide on doing a 3rd one!**

The four of us walk into an plane hanger. Abigail and I got towels over us while the guys didn't. Oh, well… We are here to meet the President and talk about something, he didn't go into details. Riley starts to tap my arm once he sees the President standing there, staring at us. "Sorry." I mumble. He continues to tap me. "Stop it." I hiss.

"Mr. President?" One of his men says. "Craig, give us a minute." The President says.

"Sir, for you information, this is the man who kidnapped you." Craig says. "As I recall, we were exploring a hidden tunnel, and the door closed accidentally, and this man saved my life." The President says not even looking at his men.

"Yes, sir."

"Gates."

"Sir."

"For the record, after centuries of exploration, on this day, you have brought honor to your country and your family. You've done this country a great service. I thank you." The President looks at us. "Thank y-you, sir." I stammer out. Riley laughs nervously.

"Craig." Craig gives the President a paper. "I thought you might want to take a took at tomorrow's headlines." The President hands the paper to Ben.

"Tomorrow?" Riley questions.

"Thank you, sir." Ben says. "All of you, along with Emily and Patrick Gates will get credit for this discovery." Ben looks at us over his shoulder. I nod. Even though Mitch is dead and do some much to us, he still deserves credit.

"And, Mitch Wilkinson, sir."

"Is that right?" He asks. "It's true, sir." Ben says.

"Ben, I am curious about that favor I asked you. Any report regarding what's on page 47?" The President asks. Page 47? What the hell is he talking about?" "I believe I can help with that, sir." Ben says.

"So it's good."

"Life-altering, sir." The President motion Ben to follow him. "What's on page 47? Are you talking about the book?" Riley asks. The President stops and turns to us. "What book?"

* * *

><p>Inside the City of Gold with Emily and Patrick. I find Mitch's backpack from before he died. I start to search for the locket, I do find it but with a note. The note is soaked but still legible. I sit on a step with the locket in one hand and the note in the other. "Whatcha yeah got there?" I'm startled by Riley, who sits down next to me. "The locket and a note addressed to me." I say.<p>

"What's inside it?" He asks. "I have no idea and right now, I don't care." I say. Riley takes the note from me before I rip up the letter and let it fall into the water. He reads it quickly and sighs.

"Riley, I don't care anymore. I don't want this to ruin anything." I sigh. "Like your mother is still alive." Riley says. My eyes widen.

"Bloody hell!" I hiss. I rip the note out of his hand and read it for myself. "My Dad is a bloody liar! I can't bloody believe this!" I growl. Riley takes the locket as I rip it into pieces so I can't even read one letter on the note. I can't believe I'm Dad bloody lied to me about my Mum's death and Wilkinson knew. I need my answers.

"What are you going to do?" Riley asks. "I'll make my Dad tell me, everything." I say with a smirk.

"Of course you will. Do you wanna get out of here and see some amazing fireworks?" Riley offers his hand for me to hold onto. I stare at the hand and sigh. "Riley, this doesn't mean we're back together." I say. Riley closes his hand and wraps his hand around my back. I do feel something back I don't want to tell him that so I do the next best thing. I kiss him and he kisses back. I guess this means we're together again. That's fine with me as long as my Dad doesn't get in the middle of it.

* * *

><p>That night at Mount Rushmore:<p>

Riley and I walk hand-in-hand through the crowds of people who are getting ready for the fireworks. A girl stops us. "Excuse me?" Riley and I turn to her. Riley holds my drink while I hold our souvenirs from Mount Rushmore. "Hey, you're the guy…The treasure hunter guy, right?" The redhead asks.

"No, actually, the guy you're thinking of is somewhere over there." Riley motions to where Ben is. "No." She says pulling something out of her bag. "You're him. Riley Poole. I recognize you from your book. Uh, will you sign it?" Riley drops my hand and my drink. The soda breaks open and splashes on my feet.

"Ok." Riley takes out a pen and signs the book. I feel jealous all of a sudden. He drops everything and signs a copy of his book for a total stranger that could be attracted to him. Yeah, she's pretty but I am in love with Riley. That kiss proved it. "And you must be the girlfriend, Raven. Nice to finally meet you." She smiles at me.

"Yeah." For some reason I feel like I know her. "Did you go to the University of Maryland?" I ask.

"Finally, someone who went to the same college as I did." She says as she walks away. "At least you weren't jealous." Riley says.

"Oh, I was and your owe me a soda." I say. Riley kisses my lips. "Nope, I still want a soda. At least it wasn't the souvenirs." I smirk, Riley shakes his head.

"Go over to Ben and Abigail, I'll get you another soda." Riley rolls his eyes and walks off. I go over to Ben and Abigail. I jump on the wall where Abigail is.

"So, um, the tea tables…" Abigail starts. "Yes, I'm going to have the movers bring them to you next week." Ben says. He goes to take a drink of soda.

"Actually I was going to say you can keep them." Ben looks at Abigail. "And maybe you could…come and move back in with me." Abigail smiles at Ben.

"No. You used the word 'so'." Ben says. "So?" Abigail says.

"So, when you say 'so' it means you're angry."

"Sometimes and sometimes it doesn't. Its sort of like a puzzle. And you're so good at puzzles. I'm sure you'll figure it out." Ben smiles at his girl. "So…" Abigail and Ben as the fireworks go off. I turn my body around to see the fireworks.

* * *

><p>One Month Later:<p>

I drive up into a parallel parking space and wait for my boyfriend to come on his normal walk down towards Patrick's old place. I watch him walk by with a book in hand. At least he can read more than I thought. I see him close his book and runs over to the car. "How?" He gasps. I shrug. "I found it in my parking spot this morning so I knew you would love to drive this baby again." I normally never get to drive his Ferrari but this time is different. He takes off the envelope off the windshield. I get out of the car and wait for his reaction. He pulls out the keys. He drops the note on the ground and jumps in the front.

Riley sighs, happily. I giggle. He starts the engine. "God, I love this car." He says. I watch his every move, waiting for him to mess this up. THe tires screech and he crashes into the car behind him. I roll my eyes.

"Hey, Ben. I need a ride."

_"I thought Riley got his car back."_

"Four words. He. Crashed. It. Already." Ben laughs on the other line.

_"Be there in a few."_

* * *

><p>I walk into the Federal Prison with locket in hand. "I'm here to see my father. Ian Howe." I say. The man looks at the clipboard. "I'm sorry Ms…" He starts.<p>

"Ian Howe's daughter, Raven Howe. I visit him once to twice a month." I say. The guard looks at me. "What happened? Is he dead? Is he hurt? Is he…"

"We had an incident, a few of our prisoners got out. We haven't been able to locate them. One was your father." I gasp. My Dad was that stupid to break out of Federal Prison without my notice since I've been on a treasure hunt for so long. "When did this happen?" I ask.

"3 weeks ago." While I was in England, of course. I slam my hand on the counter and stomp off. How am I going to tell Ben about this? This could be interesting.


	12. Bonus

Chapter Twelve: Bonus

**The bonus I promised! **

**Okay, so I see that both my reviewers Phillipfan14 and Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967 are on board with my idea for the 3rd one, its just going to take a bit of time to get everything I need for it done. My brain is already brewing up ideas like possibly Raven being kidnapped or there's going to be more than one person trying to find the treasure. Definitely romance from the couple, I just haven't decided on what treasure I'm interested in them finding and changing the world...again. I'm leaning towards what might be on an page 47 but I know that supposed to be MOVIE FOUR in the NT Series so, I'll keep thinking. **

**Enjoy! **

Mount Rushmore:

"I don't see anything that looks like a hummingbird." Abigail says. "That kinda looks like a turtle." Riley points to a rock that looks like a turtle to him.

"This doesn't make sense." I sigh. "Like they ever do." I nod my head in agreement. Inside the historical part of Mount Rushmore.

"I'm not even sure what I'm looking for." Patrick sighs. "Did Mom say anything else?" Ben asks.

"Of course she had to remind me about the sacrifices she made that I didn't." Patrick stuffs his hand in his pockets. "Sacrifice?" Ben questions.

"She stayed with you when you were a child." Patrick says. "That's right." Ben says.

"Son, I can't change the past." Patrick sighs. "No, Dad. that's right, that's where the hummingbird come from. It was a story she would tell me when I was small. A Lakota myth, about the hummingbird, _tanagila_, the spirit of sacrifice." Ben says.

"And she gave me a false clue to send me on a wild-goose chase?" Patrick says. "No, no, no. She wouldn't do that. She knew the information was for Ben, not for you." Abigail says.

"Why that story?" Riley asks. "She's trying to tell us something. In the story, the hummingbird sacrifices itself to save the Earth and the Moon, which it believed is its family." Ben says.

"She's the hummingbird. Release the hummingbird." Patrick says. I pull out my phone. "Ben I know who to call." I dial a number.

_"Raven Howe. What's the pleasure?"_

"Your on speaker, Mitch. Put Emily on the phone, now."

_"Good to hear from you too, Raven."_

"Put Emily on the phone, Mitch. Now."

_"Your calling orders? Your not in the position to give me the orders, Raven. But since I'm such a nice fellow…here's Emily now."_

_"Ben, Raven?"_

"Mom."

_"I'm fine. There's one final clue that only Wilkinson knows…"_ We hear the dial tone. "Goddammit! He's close." I hiss.

"We've gotta do something." Patrick sighs. "What? We're not armed or dangerous." Riley says.

"I've gotta turn myself in." Ben says. "What?" Abigail snaps.

* * *

><p>Ben calls Sedusky down to arrest him and Wilkinson. I watch from a distance, I smile as Sedusky's agents cuff Wilkinson and his men. "Mom." Ben says. "Ben!" She smiles.<p>

"You're okay." Ben says. "I knew you'd figure it out." Emily hugs her son.

"Turned yourself in, huh?" Mitch asks. "Smart move." Emily looks at his hand, seeing them cuffed. "No wonder the feds are here."

"What have you done this time?" Emily smack her son's chest. "Your son kidnapped the president of the United States." Sedusky says. Ben smiles.

"You know, sir, I'm oddly proud that he pulled that off." Emily smiles back. "Understandably." Sedusky says.

"So, Wilkinson, he has the final clue, doesn't he?" Ben ask. "Yes, he has a letter to the Confederate General, Pike…" Emily says.

"From the Queen of England." Ben yells. "How do you know that?" Mitch asks.

"How _did_ you know that?" Sedusky asks. "Can we talk alone?" Ben asks.

"Uh-oh." Sedusky sighs. Ben leans over to Sedusky's ear. "I took the book." Ben whispers. Ben and Sedusky leave to talk in private.

* * *

><p>I walk to where everyone is hiding. "Did it work?" I nod. Within four or five minutes Ben comes by with Dr. Appleton. "Oh, thank goodness." Abigail sighs happily.<p>

"Ben! Emily!" Patrick says. "I'm so glad to see you. Well, I'm sorry I got you into this mess."

"The last time you said that to me was the night before our wedding." Emily says. "Got your whole family here." I close my eyes.

"Yeah, I do."

"I thought the idea was to get him arrested." Riley says. "Just so we're clear, you touch one of 'em, I'll kill you." Ben says.

"I'm just looking for the treasure, Ben, just like you." Mitch says. "Yeah, right." I mumble. I grab my backpack before we walk up the mountain to where we need to be.

* * *

><p>Buckingham Palace:<p>

Riley and I stay in the Curator's Office while Ben talks to the Curator. Riley glances up from the magazine he was reading, an article about Ben's family. Riley presses a button to make the computer system have an error that he can only fix. "Oh, heavens, no." The older woman sighs as she rapidly taps away on the computer to fix the problem. He presses the button again. "Yeah, those CBC X-Pro 3200s can be pretty pesky when the system version doesn't match the user upgrades." Riley says.

"You know computers?" She asks. "Uh…Not really." Riley goes back to reading the article. I roll my eyes.

"Well, yeah, a little." Riley says. I can't help but smile at his cuteness.

"It's a bit of a mess, but I think we can handle it, right Raven?" Riley asks. "Of course, Riley." I chuckle.

"I'm gonna fix it up so you never have to come down here again." Riley hooks up his hacking device to her computer. "How does it work now?" I ask. Riley presses the button to make everything normal again making it seem like he fixed it with one simple thing.

"Oh, thank you." She smiles. Ben comes out with the Curator. "You understand the Resolute desk is in Her Majesty's private wing. Not even I am allowed in there." He says. "I understand. Thank you for your time." Ben shakes his hand and walks over to us.

"Nasty business about your ancestor." The Curator says. "It's not true." Ben says.

"Of course it's not."

* * *

><p>In the Library of Congress:<p>

"How do you know where we're going?" Riley asks as we pass down many hallways. "I used to date a librarian here." Abigail says.

"Was it cool?" Riley asks as we run down another hallway. "Was this before or after Ben?" I smirk.

"Oh, shut up you too." Abigail hisses.


End file.
